Cancún is indeed a nest of serpents – sitting in a vast, toxic rubbish dump | Luis Hernandez Navarro | Comment is free | The Guardian

Cancún is indeed a nest of serpents – sitting in a vast, toxic rubbish dump Luis Hernandez Navarro Comment is free The Guardian

Cancún is indeed a nest of serpents – sitting in a vast, toxic rubbish dumpLet's hope the UN climate change convention will expose the devastation wreaked on Mexico by its government's negligence


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Luis Hernandez Navarro guardian.co.uk, Thursday 25 November 2010 21.30 GMT Article historyNext week, Mexico hosts the UN convention on climate change in Cancún. It is ironic that such an important conference on the environment should take place in a country whose environment has been devastated, and in a city that exemplifies everything you should not do if you wish to protect the environment.

Cancún the city perfectly illustrates the light and shade of uncontrolled development; it is an emblem of both modernity and backwardness. Cancún – "nest of serpents" in the pre-Hispanic language – was born four decades ago from a government decision. A place of great natural beauty – a deserted island separated from the mainland by narrow channels, a series of lagoons, and a stretch of coast surrounded by virgin rainforest and pristine beaches – it was decided that it should be transformed into the country's most important tourist attraction.

Hundreds of tons of concrete, steel and glass were used to create "the bankers' dream" – a massive enterprise involving developers, politicians and multinational hotel chains who financed the construction of more than 27,000 hotel rooms and an urban centre with more than 700,000 inhabitants. The project has proved to be ecocidal, and left thousands without proper sanitation or adequate water or electricity.

Cancún draws in foreign currency and attracts almost half of Mexico's tourist trade; at the same time, it is a symbol of poverty. This expanding city in a nation without jobs draws in every kind of fortune seeker – money launderers, sex traders, drug traffickers.

In reality there are two cities, linked by a broad avenue, that share a name. One is the city of privilege and pleasure, the other a place of scarcity. There can be few places less appropriate for a world climate change conference.